


ain't gonna stop 'cause they tell me so

by dogf1ght



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Hair Dyeing, M/M, lil bab tyler, punk josh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 06:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7212191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogf1ght/pseuds/dogf1ght
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>tyler doesn't know how to handle josh, but josh knows how to handle hair</p>
            </blockquote>





	ain't gonna stop 'cause they tell me so

**Author's Note:**

> title from the walker by fitz and the tantrums

the red dye has obviously touched everything is josh’s already-dirty bathroom. the grout, sink, three towels, fourteen gloves, and the counter to the left of the sink look like a halloween prank went wrong. josh makes no move to clean up the mess.

 

tyler, thank god, has avoided being stained. his skinny blue jeans and faded yellow button-up have been left as dirty as they got during third-hour ceramics and fifth hour line drawing (tyler’s a leftie, and a shaky one at that).

 

josh grunts, still trying to get all the dye residue out of his damn hair. tyler sits patiently on the toilet seat, ready to hand josh towels and the conditioner if needed. his crush’s face is scrunched in concentration, and tyler doesn’t want to be one who breaks it, so he just watches in fascination as josh blow dries his hair for the fifth fucking time.

 

tyler is so caught up in the blood red of josh’s hair that he doesn’t even notice when josh starts staring at him, starts smirking at the sheltered boy’s look into a world he’s never had a chance to be apart of.

 

“you want some, too, baby boy?” josh asks, teasing tyler but also asking a genuine question. he almost laughs at tyler’s startled and scared reaction, but reigns it into just a small smile. 

 

tyler gulps, not knowing how to answer. if he comes home and he hair is so much as trimmed by anyone not approved by his mother, he might be grounded for the rest of his life. literally. 

 

but he wants to impress josh, wants to impress him a lot, so he says yes. his voice cracks when he does. 

 

josh chooses to ignore it, simply turns off his hair dryer and grins ear to ear. and tyler is so happy to see him excited that he physically can’t take back what he’s just said. 

 

josh throws his hair into a towel that he twists on top of his head (a trick tyler’s seen his sister do, but could never figure it out himself)

 

“perfect. any particular color you want? how much of your hair? are you uncomfortable with bleach?” josh is calmly bombarding tyler with questions, and the boy has no idea what to do. he doesn’t want to be beaten when he gets home, really doesn’t want to be banned from seeing josh, and especially doesn’t want to be grounded.

 

but he does, however, want to impress josh. (plus, tyler has run away from home before, and he can do it again. no big deal.)

 

he tries to think, though. what’s a color that he can do without bleaching his hair, and probably won’t show up in his house (which has shit lighting. mama joseph needs to hide her wrinkles from the light), and is something he likes?

 

he thinks about telling josh “nevermind” after he thinks for a long time, but he doesn’t.

 

“either a little bit of dark green or purple.” tyler says, going with his bare knowledge of dark colors.

 

josh immediately starts shifting through a cabinet drawer behind him labeled  _ dark cool _ and begins pulling out and replacing dye bottles like tyler’s dad does when he goes through their medicine drawer. 

 

josh pulls out two bottles, they’re different sizes and shapes and both are practically full. one is labeled “green envy” and the other “purple haze.” they both sound like drugs to tyler, like the ones the d.a.r.e lady warned him about when he was in seventh grade. 

 

tyler takes a deep breath. he doesn’t know what to do, where he wants the dye, which he wants, even  _ what _ he wants. 

 

josh leans back onto the counter, pushing back in a wonky cabinet that perpetually refuses to close. he stares at tyler in extreme concentration, then smiles.

  
“why not both?”

**Author's Note:**

> this is small and shitty but whatever,,,,,,,wh at ever


End file.
